Excerpt

This new report of the Surgeon General on the health effects of smoking provides a startling picture of the damage to health caused by tobacco use. Smoking injures almost all bodily organs, and tragically this injury often leads to incurable disease and death. The comprehensive review process that is the foundation of this series of reports has found new causal associations of smoking with disease, reemphasizing the need for continued monitoring of scientific evidence on the health effects of smoking. This report also addresses changes in the cigarette and whether these changes present increased risks to smokers.

Contents

• Message from Tommy G. Thompson
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction and Approach to Causal Inference
  • Introduction
  • Smoking: Issues in Statistical and Causal Inference
  • Major Conclusions
  • References
• 2. Cancer
  • Introduction
  • Lung Cancer
  • Laryngeal Cancer
  • Oral Cavity and Pharyngeal Cancers
  • Esophageal Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Bladder and Kidney Cancers
  • Cervical Cancer
  • Ovarian Cancer
  • Endometrial Cancer
  • Stomach Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Acute Leukemia
  • Liver Cancer
  • Adult Brain Cancer
  • Breast Cancer
  • Summary
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 3. Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Introduction
  • Conclusions of Previous Surgeon General’s Reports
  • Biologic Basis
  • Smoking and Subclinical Atherosclerosis
  • Smoking, Coronary Heart Disease, and Sudden Death
  • Smoking and Cerebrovascular Disease
  • Smoking and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
  • Summary
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 4. Respiratory Diseases
  • Introduction
  • Acute Respiratory Illnesses
  • Chronic Respiratory Diseases
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 5. Reproductive Effects
  • Introduction
  • Conclusions of Previous Surgeon General’s Reports
  • Biologic Basis
  • Fertility
  • Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes
  • Congenital Malformations, Infant Mortality, and Child Physical and Cognitive Development
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 6. Other Effects
  • Introduction
  • Diminished Health Status
  • Loss of Bone Mass and the Risk of Fractures
  • Dental Diseases
  • Erectile Dysfunction
  • Eye Diseases
  • Peptic Ulcer Disease
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 7. The Impact of Smoking on Disease and the Benefits of Smoking Reduction
  • Overview
  • Introduction
  • Current Impact of Smoking
  • Health Benefits of Reducing Cigarette Smoking
  • Conclusions
  • Implications
  • Appendix 7-1 Estimating the Disease Impact of Smoking in the United States
  • References
• 8. A Vision for the Future
  • Introduction
  • Tremendous Progress Since 1964
  • The Need for a Sustained Effort
  • The Need for a Comprehensive Approach
  • Continuing to Build the Scientific Foundation
  • Tobacco Control in the New Millennium
  • References
• Appendix
• Abbreviations

Suggested citation:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.